5 Million Minus 1 t-shirts!!!!

This is the priceless t-shirt design of our precious friends JT & Natalie. They are raising funds to bring "One of the 5 million" orphans waiting for a home in Ethiopia! They will make awesome parents of the little guy they have been matched to. I can't say much about him yet, but let's just him and Cam are sure to be best buds!!
I have ordered myself a shirt and one for Cam & Linc....I am not sure when I see them wearing this shirt I will even be able to hold back the tears....seriously we only saved 2 out of 5 MILLION! Anyway great design...love,love,love it!

Fun products to take a look at!

Check this blog to see some fun personalized name plaques with Bible verses....
AND % of the sales go to ministries in Uganda! Love, love, love these!


Next go over and check out these very cute t-shirts and necklaces that are a fundraiser for a family in Florida adopting a sweet little baby boy from Ethiopia.
I HAD to have this shirt because it has our adoption verse on it!! Great colors too!

Last but not least check out these precious handmade flag blankets from several countries. very unique!!

Winter Promise Fun!

This year we are using a literature based program called WinterPromise, we are really enjoying all the rich books we are reading. The kids will beg me to read another chapter over and over, and I must admit that I enjoy the stories as much as the children!!
Along with the books there is a timeline that is done notebooking style, crafts (usually several each week to choose from) and various other hands-on projects. Above the children made little pouches decorated with their own designs.

Here is Madelyn's 3D map of Jamestown.

The kids made leather pouches similar to those the native Americans would have stored items in. Madelyn had to make hers a purse!

Well I don't believe I will ever be able catch up on our advent progress!! The computer being gone for a week has just put me too much behind! So i think I will just have to update a much as I can!
If you are on my facebook you already have seen the pics of Madelyn. She played a munchkin in the hip-hop version of The Wizard of Oz......Oz the Musical! It was a hilarious musical, if it is coming to a city near you...go see it!! So with the show over and no more practices...we will have a bit more time to finish up our Christmas activities!!
One day with our advent activities we made Christmas cards for the family.

Another days craft was making tissue paper votive holders. Lincoln was even able to participate in this activity very easily, so I encourage you to try this one with even your littlest tykes!!

I bought these little glass containers at Hobby Lobby for 99 cents. They were with the candle making supplies. Cut up tissue paper squares and any other designs for instance if there are snowmen on your tissue paper cut them out for an actual design. Pour glue on a paper plate and add water. They paint the glass with glue, add tissue, cover with glue...repeat. Coat it really well when complete.

One Year Ago Today....

was one of the saddest days of our lives. It was the first court date we had for the boys in Ethiopia. We received an email at about 8am saying we had not passed, and it had been rescheduled for Januaury. While we knew it was a possibility to not pass court the first time it was still so heartbreaking.
To know your boys need your arms to hold them, to know your boys need your hands to wipe their tears, to know your boys need your food to fill their tummies, to know your boys need a warm bed, to know your boys need a bath...their first bath, to know your boys are a continent away and there is NOTHING you can do about it.....and worse than that a single sheet of paper is what stands in the way of giving them all of those things. It is the saddest, emptiest, helpless, brokenest I have ever felt.

I write this a year later. Our boys are home. They have full bellies. They love their bath time! They have lots of arms to hold them and hands to wipe away tears. The waiting time now seems like a faint dream. It seems like these boys have been here since the day they were born.
I hope if you are in the process you will be encouraged that during the hardest times in this process you will grow closer to your spouse and most of all closer to your Lord!
They WILL come home and there even be days you dread making another meal and giving another bath.....and that is when the wait will seem like a distant memory!

Day 4

Today we totally skipped our advent activities today because it was a full,full day!
After our school work we headed to the United Ministries for a service project.
Carson helped out in the food pantry stocking shelves.
The littles went downstairs and sang Christmas carols to the residents in the adult day care. Then they made crafts with the residents and helped decorate the Christmas trees.

The older kids went to church for kids night in. They played games, ate pizza and made a ton of crafts!